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On Hall of Fame Night against the lower-rung Maple Leafs, who would have thought the mighty Red Wings would need their stars of yesteryear to peel off their Hall blazers and get on the ice?

With three former Wings -- Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille -- honoured before the match for entering the Hall, it was Toronto that showed more old-school pride last night at the Air Canada Centre.

Despite a road game in Carolina the night before, the Leafs laid a 5-1 beating on the Wings, sparked by Jonas Gustavsson in net, 18 blocked shots and five-for-five penalty killing.

The Leafs now have points in seven consecutive games, two of them wins and all but one with the rookie Gustavsson between the pipes.

It was Toronto's first win at home this season, and it helped the Leafs climb into a 28th-place tie with Florida.

"Jonas is giving us the confidence to play the game we need to play," said defenceman Jeff Finger, one of three Leafs to get his first goal of the season.

Most notable by far was Phil Kessel's, coming in the last minute of the opening period, providing Toronto its first early two-goal lead of the season. Kessel tapped a Jason Blake shot just as it was going over the line after defenceman Ian White fired through a crowd.

"I said you had to bury those," laughed Kessel, who was 0-for-10 in his first game as a Leaf earlier in the week.

Gustavsson stopped the first 27 shots he faced, and 35 overall, including power-play chances by the ever dangerous Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

"It was our best game of the season," Gustavsson declared.

"The guys pretty much let me see all the shots coming in. It was a special night with all the (hall of famers) there. It was a special atmosphere."

The Leafs now have gone four games without allowing a power-play goal.

KOMISAREK INJURED

The only hiccup was a first-period injury to defenceman Mike Komisarek in a collision with Todd Bertuzzi that saw the Leaf leave soon after. Coach Ron Wilson described Komisarek's injury as a lower body one, but not serious.

Detroit's Jason Williams also departed on crutches after crashing into the boards in the second period.

He will reportedly miss at least two months with what is being called a fractured right fibula.

The Leafs entered the game with a few things to prove, starting with Gustavsson's ability to weather back-to-back situations after a careful recovery from a groin injury last month. He was put to the test with 13 first-period shots, followed by two Detroit power plays early in the second.

"He was a wall back there," Finger said. "We've played well and we have another one coming up (Tuesday against Minnesota). You have to win two to win three (straight)."

The Leafs won games on consecutive nights for the first time in six tries dating back to late last February. The hoopla associated with the Hall certainly filled the team's adrenalin tank after an early morning arrival home.

"I've told the players that this is an advantage to playing in Toronto, games like the Hall of Fame," Wilson said.

This also was the second night for new lines drawn up by Wilson. Rather than fade after a good start in Carolina, the new first unit of Kessel, John Mitchell and Blake produced two goals, Mitchell tipping in a Kessel shot after Daniel Cleary broke Gustavsson's shutout in the third.

The fourth line, now comprising Matt Stajan, Wayne Primeau and Colton Orr, had Toronto's opening goal at 10:34 of the first. Orr found Primeau down the wing and he fooled Chris Osgood.

Stajan had begun the week in the coveted position as Kessel's centre, but Wilson abruptly changed to Mitchell after just one game. Rickard Wallin joined Nicklas Hagman and Lee Stempniak as their centre.